The Heart That Beats For Her

Chapter Seven

The sound of his deep chuckle stirs in her chest and she cannot possibly contain the smile stretching into her cheeks. Making him laugh has to be one of her most favorite things about their relationship. Warmth is swallowing her whole, but she's content, she's happy. She rests her head back, her neck rolling to the side to admire the stunning grin that consumes his entire face and persuades her heart to skip merrily along. He reaches and she doesn't necessarily feel the contact, but she sees the way he grins as he brings her knuckles to his lips and presses a gentle kiss. He lingers, his eyes drifting away from whatever lies ahead to meet her gaze and flash her one wink.

She feels so utterly loved and she knows her heart is full, but something like panic is festering in her gut.

She blinks, her eyes trailing back to find out what's ahead, only to be blinded by the headlights shining on the other side of the road. An eerie sensation crawls down her spine and demands that all the little hairs on the back of her neck stand to attention. Her heart starts racing and she knows something is wrong. Something is so terribly wrong and she's screaming at herself to stop the madness.

Wake up.

The sound of crunching glass echoes all around her...

Please wake up.

Her body feels weightless, hazardously tossed around like a rag-doll and she feels the need to protect herself, to find some control and brace herself from whatever is about to occur. Her hand shoots up, moving all on its own to plant her palm against the roof of the car. She doesn't necessarily feel the crack that echoes through the air, but she knows she should be feeling a violent pain in her wrist.

Wake up.

One, two, three. Wake up!

Regina flings forward in bed, gasping for her next breath as her fingers curl around her right wrist to check for any damage. The dream...the memory still so vivid and haunting in her mind. It's been one month since the cast was taken off her arm and for some reason, the memories of what had happened to cause the break in the first place, have been coming back more clearly now.

One month.

The cast came off two days before she met Emma Swan. Obviously, she's still grieving and she will never admit this out loud, let alone to herself, but that woman flipped her world upside down. Her dark and dreary world, made up of stormy grey clouds and swirls of black, but when she saw Emma in that restaurant, she was taken back by the splash of yellow, the dash of red, and the pop of green.

Her world started to produce color once again.

Except, she hasn't spoken to the woman since that day, because she knows she can't use the blonde as a crutch to heal her broken heart, just because she possesses her husband's heart. That woman owes her nothing and she's lucky that Emma even allowed her one last opportunity to hear and feel Naveen's heart once again. However, she aches all over, itching to speak to the stranger again. Every day she has to fight against her instincts to not reach out and disturb the blonde's life. Emma needed a heart, not a lonely widow to come along with the package.

"Hey, sis," Zelena's voice startles her from those conflicting thoughts, forcing her wet eyes to dart toward the doorway where a mess of ringlets linger. "You're up, good. How about some breakfast?"

"When are you and mother going to move out?" She bitterly snarks.

"When your nightmares stop or when you decide to finally go speak to someone about them," Zelena fires right back, her sharp eyes narrowing to where Regina is still clutching her damaged wrist.